DULUTH -- Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District officials said 2011 was a "banner year" for cleaning and safety efforts.

CID staff and crews cleared 1,617 20-pound bags of trash from roadways -- that is 16.17 tons. More than 1,300 illegally placed signs were removed, as well as 47 instances of graffiti, according to statistics released last week.

Those partnerships, said Executive Director Joe Allen, allow the business group to make strides in keeping the mall area safe and clean. The partners he credited include Gwinnett Police, the county's departments of transportation, planning and development, code enforcement and water resources as well as utility companies Georgia Power, Jackson EMC and AT&T.

"These agencies are at the forefront of providing services that we depend on daily," Allen said. "The CID is benefiting our property owners by partnering to stay on top of our area's appearance and infrastructure. We are keeping greater Gwinnett Place ready to serve new and existing businesses for years to come."

In addition to the routine patrols of police officers, the CID pays for private uniformed security as well as landscape crews to beautify the interchanges at Steve Reynolds Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road and roadways in the district.